some people are acting like mike’s general attitude and even being a jerk in s3/ partially s4 came out of nowhere as if this boy isn’t fucking traumatised?? on top of the fact that he hated himself and tries to suppress his feelings

he’s also generally not okay, he’s very obviously, openly depressed, he’s been bullied, belittled his whole life. he kept it together for the first two seasons because he needed to make sure his best friend wasn’t fucking dead!!!!!! but even then, when he got the ‘opportunity’ of the jump, he took it.

no person in their right mind would’ve taken that jump and yet he did. not because he had to, because it’s not like they would’ve killed him, had he not. because he saw an easy way out. it’s not something a healthy, stable person does.

his entire demeanour in s3 comes from a fact that he could finally drop the survival state of mind and focus on his own problems that had always been there !!!!!!!!!! that did not appear out of nowhere !!!!!!! he just always puts everyone else before him first. all the times he snapped (especially at will), he was begging for someone to see through him and yet, nobody did.

Can we please talk about how people downplay Mike's trauma over losing Will and El?

Mike lost Will, first Will went missing while returning from Mike's house which probably made Mike feel guilty, then he literally watched his body being fished out of the water, there was even a funeral. People don't pay attention to how hard these days must have been for him - and why? because Will is back, safe and sound. People in the fandom and the characters in the show, no one pays attention to it. Fans think that how much Mike cares for Will in season two is a reflection of his romantic feelings for him - no one wants to connect it to his trauma. The characters in Stranger Things don't pay attention to it either because Will is back so it doesn't count, everyone talks about Nancy losing Barb but no one talks about Mike because at least his friend is back.

Mike lost El, and he was literally going crazy even though he had only known her for a few days. He fell into depression and couldn't come to terms with the loss so he was calling her for 353 days. Her return is a miracle from heaven for Mike, and the way he behaves after her return, how much he cares for her, what makes him look like someone who wants to control her even though he doesn't. All this is the result of the trauma he had to go through alone without any help. People say Mike has no trauma which always surprises me because people see Nancy's trauma after losing her friend or Joyce's trauma after losing her lover, so why can't they see Mike's? because the two people he was mourning are back, and no one cares about Mike's feelings anymore. This boy had to (still has to) do everything he could to look like a normal teenager without any problems because no one took his problems seriously anymore.

remember, this post is not about romantic things related to this character, it doesn't matter if you ship byler or mileven, this is a post about mike and his trauma, take it easy, thank you

Guys whatever you do don’t think about the fact that Mike Wheeler gets no comfort while watching his best friend get taken over by a literal monster and then be in excruciating pain because of this monster, only to be lost to this monster in front of his own very eyes. Don’t think about the fact that despite being the only (aware) child in the situation, none of the adults around him ever try to check up on him or support him through this.

Then when Bob dies he’s the one providing comfort to Joyce when they run, he’s the one comforting and supporting the others by coming up with plans.

The only comfort he gets isn’t until the beginning of episode 9, when everything isn’t even over yet, and it’s too late. He’s already lost his trust in Hopper now. He kept El from him for almost a year, letting him soak in his own depression and self-guilt. He may stay by Hop after he comforts him because that’s what he is craving, it’s what he needs, but we’re back to disrespectful Mike in the next season bc obv it was too much for Mike to forgive Hop.

In season 1, we see a kid with his heart on his sleeve. He knows what he wants and he’s not afraid to tell people this, even when his own family is putting him down for it. But in s3, we see a kid who represses his emotions as far down as they’ll go, full of self-hatred, never opening up to anyone.

I believe this change is mainly due to these facts: 1) he was depressed for a whole year and no one ever picked up on it, again, no one comforted him, esp not his family. He probably thought he was being stupid, we already know he thought he was crazy. 2) at this point, he had been repeatedly shut down when voicing his thoughts (Lucas shutting down his worries about Will, Dustin yelling at him when he was grieving for Bob, Hopper immediately getting mad when he was voicing his frustrations), and he probably doesn’t think there’s any point to it anymore. No one ever listens to him anyways. And then 3) the complete lack of comfort he is (not) given throughout seeing Will, his best friend, suffer and being completely unable to help him. That is, until he’s forced to listen to his screams as he’s convincing the others to put Will to sleep.

So yeah… don’t think about that guys :)

mike wheeler nobody gets you like i do pookie

The Mike Hater Friend just said that Mike isn't a complex character and that he's just annoying.

There is two types of Mike Wheeler defenders.

Long analysis people that could write Mike Wheeler better then the Duffers

Babygirl Mike Wheeler stans

And you know, I think that's beautiful.

will learned how to put syrup on his eggs from mike at their first sleepover

little six year old will wandered downstairs with mike and sat down at the table with him, mike's mom had said she was making pancakes, hash browns, eggs and bacon. will had never seen so much food for breakfast in his life.

after mrs. wheeler set down the food and told the boys to help themselves, will and mike started to scoop some food onto their plates. will was chewing on some eggs he grabbed, along with some bacon, when he looked over at mike and did a double take.

mike had the syrup bottle in his hands, which initially made sense considering will noticed he had grabbed pancakes, but he was not pouring it only on his pancakes...he was pouring it on his eggs...

"you're putting syrup on your eggs?" will asked him completely shocked, not believing the two flavors of sweet and savory would work at all

mike looked up at him mildly surprised before he grinned "yeah! it's really good! you should try it"

will looked apprehensive at the suggestion "i don't know..." but mike stopped him

"trust me will, it's really good! and you're my friend so i would never lie to you because friends don't lie"

will contemplated looking down at his plate and back at mike because mike was right, friends don't lie. he finally nodded his head a little and said "okay, i guess i'll try it"

mike grinned wide as he passed the syrup bottle over to will "you're gonna love it, i'm 100% sure"

will took the bottle and popped the cap. he tipped it and nervously poured the syrup over his eggs. he trusted mike, but a small part of him was worried he was gonna end up having to throw his breakfast away and apologize to mrs. wheeler for wasting food. he picked up his fork, scooped up some eggs and hesitantly brought them to his mouth before he took a breath then took a bite. he chewed apprehensively, worried he might smart gagging or something, before he realized they taste...wasn't bad? actually...it was really good! mike was right

"so? i was right, wasn't i? it's good?"

will snapped his head up to look over at mike, who was looking back at him expectantly with a slight grin on his face. will smiled at him "yeah, it's really good"

mike clapped his hands "see! i told you! syrup on eggs is the best breakfast food" he said excitedly. will giggled at his antics

just then mike's mom entered the room "boys, how's the food? everything good?" she asked. she was observing what they had ate before she noticed mike's plate and sighed "michael...i've told a dozen times to stop putting the syrup on your eggs"

mike looked at him mom and groaned "but mooom! it's really good! even will agrees!"

quick to support his friend, will nodded his head and as he finished chewing said "it's true mrs. wheeler. it is really good"

mrs. wheeler finally turned to look at will and his plate and noticed the same odd combination of food "oh don't tell me michael convinced you to do it too. oh my goodness..." she started mumbling to herself, shaking her head as she walked away

mike and will looked at each other once she left and immediately burst into a fit of giggles. for whatever reason, they don't know, but regardless they continued to enjoy their breakfast of syrup covered eggs, pancakes, and bacon

Just wanted to tell you how much I love this kid, that's all

every time someone says 'i miss the old mike' it makes me so mad and furious on his behalf like . that is my boy. he's trying. he's doing his best. he' s just hurting :((

I know there’s other characters but you get my point

i NEED more content on wet cigarette not like having dirty nails reading glasses tiring hair up load of problems sweater internal homophobia wearing freak mike.

I NEED this man to HURT. I NEED him to sob. I NEED him to BREAK.

I feel like no one is talking about that, bc why if u ship byler and u believe that mike loves Will back, but let's think about that for a while cuz it's a serious topic. WHAT IF mike is actually not in love with Will? what's gonna happen to him in this fandom then? what people are gonna do to him? bc if u like it or not that's a fact:

if someone rejects a straight person who's in love with them bc they're gay, that's completely okay, that's not their fault that they're gay right? it's clear to everyone. The problem is when someone rejects a gay person who's in love with them bc they're straight- then everyone will be like "oh he's homophobic ew" just because he CAN'T feel the same even if he wants to? (in many situations like that a "gay person" is someone actually important to the "straight person" and it's literally hard for them to reject them, but everyone always talks only about the "gay person" side)

i know u guys don't wanna think about this bc u believe that mike WON'T reject Will and that's totally okay, but as a mike wheeler defender and mileven shipper as well i need to think about that, I'm really worried that my fav, my comfort character will be terribly hated by the whole fandom just bc he's not in love with ur fav character.

Cuz if Mike would leave El for Will, what can mileven shippers say? bylers are gonna jump on everyone bc hating on mike would be homophobic then

(it's hard to disagree!ofc whatever happens i will be on Mike's side so don't worry I'm not talking about my situation here)

But if mike will stay with El then practically everyone will judge him and idk if i can manage it😕 he's my little boy. I feel like most people like him rn bc of the idea that he's in love with Will, but what if that's not true? what's gonna happen then?

Why the Troy and Angela Situations Should Not Be Compared (+ Why Mike's Reaction Is Valid)

One of the things that gets my blood boiling as a Mike defender is when people try to compare the bullying/El's reaction to said bullying between the Troy and Angela scenes. They are not the same thing, not even close! Yes, they're both cases of bullying, but two very different levels of extreme.

Yes, I understand that words can hurt just as much, if not more, than a physical weapon, and Mike understands this too, that's why he tries to connect with El the morning after. But in the real world, one without monsters or powers, the one they believe they're living in at the time, violence is almost never the answer, it only makes things worse, as it did. Mike also understand this. Now, yes, it took him a minute to figure out that El didn't quite understand this yet, but he works to fix his mistakes as soon as he does.

Now, let's look at season 1's incident. Troy is threatening to cut Dustin with a knife if Mike doesn't jump off the quarry cliff. Two lives are in immediate and direct danger in this situation. El, literally at the last second, saves Mike as he's falling, so that's one problem fixed and one less life at stake. By this time, yes, Troy has moved away from Dustin, but he is still holding the knife! And then he aggressively steps towards El, threatening her with it, so she snaps his arm and makes him drop it. This is self defense, as well as defending her friends from a dangerous situation.

In season 4, Angela publicly humiliates El. Yes, it's awful, and yes, she deserves the smack that she gets for it, but it's nowhere near as bad as what Troy was doing. Angela isn't putting any lives in immediate danger, she's not brandishing a weapon! Legally, El smacking Angela is assault, because at the point of the roller-scate-smack, the ordeal is done with, and there was no physical harm done. I'd like to add that I'm aware of El falling, and that she may have been hurt, but technically no one touched her, so it still isn't technically self-defense (I may be wrong here, pls correct me if so). This is a very unfortunate situation, and I feel terrible for El, as should everyone, but I'm a firm believer that when it comes to bullies, you shouldn't fight fire with fire, and Mike seems to carry this belief as well, as he repeatedly tells the boys to just ignore their bullies in s1. @foodiewithdahoodie has an old post (can't find it irl, but it's stuck in my brain) in which they say El treats Angela, a normal girl who is not a serious threat, with the same extreme hostility she shows the UD monsters, and I completely agree with this. El is flawed, and Mike's not a bad person for reacting to those flaws, that just happen to include unnecessary violence, the way a normal person would.

Anyways, what I'm getting at here is that these two situations are completely different (again, Troy has a literal weapon, two peoples' lives were being actively threatened!) and Mike's reaction in both circumstances were completely valid! In season one, he was seconds away from death, and so when El saved him and made the threat go away, he was eternally grateful for her defense. In season 4, he tries so hard to get to her when he realizes what's going on despite having just found out she'd been lying to him for months, and he was even completely on El's side, trying to find and comfort her, until she hit Angela, then he believed she went too far (she did), so he made that known. He's never been one to sugarcoat when he disagrees with certain behaviors, and he doesn't start here, he tells it like it is: Angela doesn't look fine. It also is just a lot to process, so it doesn't surprise me that it takes an overnight thought-session for him to figure out where he went wrong, and again, he tries to make it up to her! To connect with her, bringing down some of his walls in the process! She just disregards his experiences, then brings up him not saying ILY, so he gets defensive and puts back up his walls, and they never get to continue this conversation! (This is an analysis for another day in and of itself tbh)

To reiterate, it just irks me when people compare these scenes to try and make Mike out to be a bad person, when they are nowhere near the same situation! His reactions being different makes total sense, esp when adding the shock-factor of it all! I'll stop talking now cuz this could go on forever and I lowkey feel like I'm just repeating myself now.

Pls tell me your thoughts on this!

A reminder that Mike jumped. He didn't thought about and he didn't try to treake them, he ACTUALLY JUMPED.

do you ever think that mike sees himself like mike haters see him? do you think he sees himself as a horrible friend, a bad boyfriend, an annoying brother, a shitty son? because i do and it hurts a little bit too much

Mike defenders can I count on y'all to back me up when I post this little defense of Mike's plot relevance